Indonesia - into Jogja

On first glance, Indonesia is fairly different to Singapore and, I'll be honest, it doesn't get more similar with subsequent glances.

Initially, Yogyakarta was the destination, also confusingly known as Jogjakarta. Yogyakarta is equidistant^[1] between the famous Borobudur and Prambanan temple complexes which is the beauty of its location. Well, that explains a lot of the tourist attraction though.
I didn't know a great deal about Indonesia generally, or the city specifically. The larger, and better known, cities of Indonesia sit on the island of Java which is big and I hear most commonly associated with coffee^[2]. 

Landing
Upon landing at the airport, a taxi was the best way out of the airport and to the accommodation. Indonesia does not seem to have embraced the idea of mass transportation so it can be a little tricky to get around. Actually, it is not that tricky as you can use taxis to get around so it is, in many ways, easier than pubic transport. 

In general, the problem I have with taxi travel is the feeling of being removed from the environment. It feels a little like being in a hermetically sealed bubble and I felt very insulated as we moved.
It was a short flight, but still strangely tiring and so food was required for a little perkiness. As seems to be the way with travel in South East Asia, I was told that Indonesia was "all about the food" by a fellow traveller - a gentleman from Singapore on the flight. 

After food, the first destination from a short shortlist was the Affandi gallery [link]. I'd never heard of Affandi [link] but I found the gallery and art there to be very much to my tastes. Not being an expert, I can't say much about the technique but I liked the fact that it was expressionist and non-realist. I don't think the website does justice, at all, to the paintings as they were vibrant and striking but they look a little washed out online [link] but they were beautifully moving.

Jogjakarta is not that large and, at night, the central street becomes very busy as people go out to shop and eat - which are classic tourist activities. There was a particular dish that had been recommended and so a search was started. A short search. 

Nasi gudeg ("this sweet flavored dish Nasi Gudeg is made of young jack-fruit cooked with coconut milk and also Javanese palm sugar")was served in most places so we picked one and sat. A "place" was a mixture between a tent, a stall and a restaurant. Seating was on the floor with long tables and pretty casual. Or relaxed, whichever you prefer. I'm generally a fan of these types of places.

Apart from being tasty, food in Indonesia is pretty cheap and this filling meal was the equivalent of £2.

After eating, the area was still pretty bustling and there seemed to be plenty of people out. Plenty of other people.

I was fairly busy the next day so....

NOTE: The photo album is for more than this day - for further posts related to the album, please click through

Yogyakarta mixed - click for photo album

<sup>1. not really, but they are close.↩
2. While in Indonesia, I asked at each hotel reception where I could buy coffee beans from and they each looked at me like I was mental. They seemed genuinely confused at the concept and so I can only assume that it is all for export. The coffee I actually had in Indonesia was of the instant and not so good variety - though I have no doubt I could have searched some out. I was presented with some ground coffee though, but I did not find it.↩</sup>